Could You Please Refute the Ambiguity Surrounding the Geocentric Model of Ptolemy? – Mawlana Ilyas Patel

Answered by Mawlana Ilyas Patel

Question

The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) is accused of adopting the geocentric model of Ptolemy and Aristotle in Surah Yasin, verses 38-40.

A friend told me that Muqatil Ibn Sulayman supported the heliocentric model. Please explain and translate his Tafsir on these verses to clarify this.

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate

I pray you are in good faith and health. Thank you for your question.

It is a well-known scientific fact that the Earth orbits around the sun, and not vice versa. However, it is important to note that the Qur’an and Sunna were not intended to be solely focused on scientific matters. Rather, their primary purpose is to guide and instruct humans on how to live a righteous life, attain felicity and recognize Allah Most High. 

Allah Most High said, “The sun travels for its fixed term. That is the design of the Almighty, All-Knowing. As for the moon, We have ordained ˹precise˺ phases for it until it ends up looking like an old, curved palm stalk. It is not for the sun to catch up with the moon, nor does the night outrun the day. Each is traveling in an orbit of their own.”  [Quran, 38-40]

And the sun runs for its resting place for its appointed time until the Day of Resurrection.

Abu Dhar al-Ghifari said: The sunset one day, so I asked the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), where does the sunset? Then the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “She sets down in a spring of mud and black mud. Then she falls down, prostrating under the Throne, and asks for permission, and he gives her permission. It is as if she had been told, ‘Return to where you are setting.’”

That is what He mentioned of night and day, and the sun and the moon flow in His dominion according to what He has decreed of their affairs and creation, by the decree of the Mighty, the All-Knowing – Then he said – And the moon We have destined for places in the sky, it increases, then it becomes equal, then it decreases at the end of the month until it returns like a crimp until it returns like a thread as it would be at the beginning. What begins with “like a limp” means an old, withered, bent stem that has been aged for a year.

Then He, the Almighty and Majestic, said: It is not necessary for the sun to overtake the moon and shine with the light of the moon “because” the sun is the ruler of the day, and the moon is the ruler of the night. Then He said: Nor does the night precede the day. The night and the day are in an orbit. They swim in a circle. They run. This means that the sun and the moon enter under the earth from the west and emerge from under the earth until they emerge from the east. Then they run in the sky until they set before the sunset. This is their rotation. He says, “And each one swims in an orbit.” Both of them run in circles until the Day of Resurrection.

[Muqatil al-Balkhi, Tafsir Muqatil Ibn Sulaiman]

 وَالشَّمْسُ تَجْرِي لِمُسْتَقَرٍّ لَها لوقت لها إلى يوم القيامة،

قال أبو ذر الغفاري: غربت الشمس يوما، فسألت النبي- ﷺ أين تغرب الشمس؟ فقال النبي- ﷺ تغرب في عين حمئة وطينة سوداء، ثم تخر ساجدة تحت العرش فتستأذن فيأذن لها فكأن قد قيل لها ارجعي إلى حيث تغربين  .

ذلِكَ الذي ذكر من الليل والنهار، والشمس والقمر يجري في ملكه بما قدر من أمرهما وخلقهما تَقْدِيرُ الْعَزِيزِ الْعَلِيمِ– – ثم قال-وَالْقَمَرَ قَدَّرْناهُ مَنازِلَ فى السماء يزيد، ثم يستوي، ثم ينقص في آخر الشهر حَتَّى عادَ كَالْعُرْجُونِ حتى عاد مثل الخيط كما يكون أول ما استهل فيه «كالعرجون» يعني العذق اليابس المنحني الْقَدِيمِ الذي أتى عليه الحول. ثم قال- جل وعز-: لَا الشَّمْسُ يَنْبَغِي لَها أَنْ تُدْرِكَ الْقَمَرَ فتضيء مع ضوء القمر، «لأن» الشمس سلطان النهار، والقمر سلطان الليل، ثم قال- : وَلَا اللَّيْلُ سابِقُ النَّهارِ يقول «ولا يدرك سواد الليل ضوء النهار فيغلبه على ضوئه وَكُلٌّ الليل والنهار فِي فَلَكٍ يَسْبَحُونَ في دوران يجرون يعني الشمس والقمر يدخلان تحت الأرض من قبل المغرب فيخرجان من تحت الأرض، حتى يخرجا من قبل المشرق، ثم يجريان في السماء حتى يغربا قبل المغرب، فهذا دورانهما فذلك قوله- «وَكُلٌّ فِي فَلَكٍ يَسْبَحُونَ» يقول وكلاهما في دوران يجريان إلى يوم القيامة

I would like you to go through the valuable answers and links below. You will receive guidance and direction in sha Allah.

Related

• Is It Obligatory to Believe That the Earth Is Stationary and That the Sun Orbits Around It? – SeekersGuidance
• Hadiths On The Cosmos On Cosmic Revolution, Time, The Dying Sun And Energy – SeekersGuidance
• Earth Archives – SeekersGuidance
• Does the Quran refer to geocentrism? | (youtube.com)
• Does the Hadith of the Sun prostrating support geocentrism? | (youtube.com)

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I pray this helps with your question.

[Mawlana] Ilyas Patel
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Mawlana Ilyas Patel is a traditionally-trained scholar who has studied within UK, India, Pakistan, Syria, Jordan and Turkey.

He started his early education in UK. He went onto complete hifz of Qur’an in India, then enrolled into an Islamic seminary in UK where he studied the secular and Alimiyyah sciences. He then travelled to Karachi, Pakistan.

He has been an Imam in Rep of Ireland for a number of years. He has taught hifz of the Qur’an, Tajwid, Fiqh and many other Islamic sciences to both children and adults onsite and online extensively in UK and Ireland. He was teaching at a local Islamic seminary for 12 years in the UK where he was a librarian and a teacher of Islamic sciences.

He currently resides in UK with his wife. His personal interest is love of books and gardening.